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Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2006

Date: March 16, 2005
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Senior Citizens Entitlements and the Safety Net


CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2006 -- (House of Representatives - March 16, 2005)

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Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Chairman, while the majority cynically tells America that they will cut the deficit in half by 2009, here we go begin. A simple review shows that the budget will add $127 billion 5 years from now and make the situation even worse.

This is the legacy we are giving to our kids. We are telling them, "We've got a deal for you. We're going to privatize part of Social Security." They are going to need the money to pay the interest on the debt. They better save their money.

My friend from Ohio has presented probably the best defense of deficit spending that I have ever heard. Along with the false claims and the budgetary sleights of hand, remember, these are the same folks who since 2001 have converted a $5.6 trillion surplus into a deficit of $4 trillion, a $9 trillion turnaround. Defend that.

It really takes a special talent to underfund education, to underfund veterans' programs, to cut Medicaid, to fail to protect Social Security and still raise the deficit. Over and over again it is clear, Mr. Chairman, the leadership in Washington has no credibility when it comes to handling the people's money. We are good at giving tax cuts to Sammy Sosa and we forgot the very people who are fighting on the front lines.

It is not just doing the congressional budget process where this is apparent. A lack of credibility with America's money seems to be the order of the day throughout government. Just this morning, we completed another $81 billion supplemental for a war the administration told us would cost $100 billion in its entirety. We were told that the war would be paid for by oil revenue. Just this week, we found out that Halliburton has overcharged the Pentagon more than $108 million in excess billing, a sum that would pay for 592 up-armored Humvees which we disgracefully did not provide for our troops at the beginning of this war, or 2,250 explosive device jammers for our troops in the field. We are going to hear these conversions of costs over and over and over again. Mr. Chairman, get used to it.

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